Human rights activist and journalist Ibn Abdur Rehman, or commonly known as IA Rehman, has passed away at the age of 90 at his home in Lahore, his family confirmed Monday.
The family said Rehman was a sugar and blood pressure patient, but did not identify the cause of death.
Rehman was a columnist for the daily Dawn and was actively involved with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
He was born on September 1930 in Haryana, British India which is now part of India.
Rehman was a distinguished Lahore-based journalist and was involved with journalism for more than 65 years.
During his career, he had served as the editor-in-chief of the Pakistan Times from 1988-1990. During the East Pakistan crisis, he was working as the managing editor of Urdu daily Azad.
He spent the Ziaul Haq period (1978–88) as the executive editor of weekly Viewpoint.
Apart from publishing hundreds of articles and papers, he had authored three books: Jinnah as a Parliamentarian (co-editor), Arts and Crafts of Pakistan, and Pakistan under Siege, a collection of his own columns.
Rehman worked as director of HRCP for two decades and was also the group’s secretary general till 31 December, 2016.
As news of his death spread, social media users paid tribute to the human rights defender.
Human rights activist Ali Dayan Hasan remembered Rehman as a “human rights warrior, and a visionary leader”.
Activist Salam Sufi recalled that Rehman was a “voice of reason and intellect”.
Activist Gulalai Ismail called the loss “unbearable”.
Journalist Nasim Zehra called the activist the “vanguard of Pakistan’s democratic struggle”.
PPP leader Sherry Rehman called the veteran journalist an “icon of integrity”.
